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Why? Inquiries are only about 10% of our score. Yes, I understand some creditors don't like folks seeking a lot of credit or pyramiding debt. But some of the folks on here almost seem paranoid about getting a hard pull or two.
Now understand, I am not talking about folks with 15, 20 or 30 inquiries
There are so many more important things that have an impact on scores. Between utilization and history we are talking two-thirds of the factors impacting scores.
I'm not criticizing - just curious why some people are almost OCD about inquiries.
Because it just restarts the time since last inquiry posted on your CR. Which is very valuable if your in the garden, and trying to reach a certain goal.
Inquiries are kind of like that Miranda Warning.... Any inquiries on your report CAN and WILL BE used against you by some creditors. I had one last month tell me I wouldnt be a good candidate and not too apply because of "too many inquiries" with in the last year. Mind you out of the 8, all but 1 were due to car purchases.... 4 in June of 12, then when that car got totalled and I had to buy again... 3 more in April of this year. Even though those seven are scored in such a way that I`m only being scored on 3... That lender viewed it as "excessive".
Even though inquiries only account for 10% and hurt for only a year. Lenders would rather see 0-2 or 3-4 inquiries versus 6-8 and up so a lot of people worry about what they apply for and if a CLI is going to be a HP or SP.
Thats why its doesnt only matter what your score is; its whats in your file. It would look bad if you have a lot of inquiries because it looks like you are seeking credit. Especially in a short period.
i can tell you, losing 16 points for going from 3 to 4 inquiries(same amount gained going from 4 to 3) was a bit of a shocker @ this level (sub 730 scores). There is no such thing as a conventional credit profile-we're all a bit unique, and the conventional wisdom did not apply for my situation.
Inquiries also got me denied by citi about 11 months ago.
INQ's are the DEVIL!!!!!!
STAY AWAY FROM MY FILES!!!!
I agree that inquiries aren't a big deal and I really don't care about them most of the time. However, there are lenders who do not like them and they may have really good offers. Every month I get a preapproval for a different US Bank card with 15 months no interest and a 12500 limit, so I am keeping TransUnion free from inquiries so that they don't deny me for too many. They can see that the inquiries are all from them so I haven't run into any problems yet.
Scores are not important and I wish people would realise that. The most important thing is a good looking report. It's not like you can have a 750 with 85% utilisation and negative information on the reports. As long as everything is clean you should have no problem getting approved for anything.
While I understand that inquires carry only 10% of our scores I believe the reason you may hear more about worrying about them is because of one word (spree).
We tend to not appy for 1-2 cards but more like 3-5 and in some case above that number thus resulting in a lot of INQ's.
We then try to distribute them across the 3 CB's knowing that they will have a negative impact for a year but stay with us for a period 2 years ouch.
All this is in preparation for that next spree seeking sign up bonuses, better rewards, lower APR's, BT offers and by then lenders tend to be more impacted by those INQ's we have racked up in shall we say less than a year.
I don't worry about inquiries. I just know less is better more when it comes to it and anything over 5 inquires on each report is a bit too much for someone with only 1 year of credit history.
Having patience and self descipline is a good thing in the credit world.